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Certainly a picture of flamingos and storks leads me to think kind thoughts.

I had a lady tell me I needed daily affirmations in my life. I was in line at a coffee shop and a lady took what seemed like three years to give her order and then seemed surprised that she had to pay. The lady in front of me hearing me sigh and turning back to see me roll my eyes stated “You need affirmations in your life”.

Apparently she uses them and they help her deal with things that used to bother her. She carried on about how they had changed her life until it was her turn to order. I felt like I had been cornered by a religious sect that usually shows up on your doorstep. When she stepped up to order I thought “Hallelujah!”

Later that night I found myself googling daily affirmations. OH MY GOODNESS there are affirmations for everything! Whatever ails you, whatever you want to manifest in your life, whatever you are trying to get over there is an affirmation for that. I looked through several sites and found one that seemed sort of like an affirmations for beginners.

The site had a list of suggested affirmations. I wondered do we say them out loud? Are we suppose to chant them? Do we repeat them? How many times? Okay so I have a few questions about how all this works and also are we suppose to say the same ones everyday? Or find a new one and kinda dwell on a new topic each day like a daily devotional reading.

Anyway I totally lost track of the last paragraph. The first affirmation the site recommended was “Think Only Kind Thoughts”.

Hmmm that’s a nice idea but not gonna happen. Who can think only kind thoughts? I roll my eyes a lot and it’s not at kind thoughts. It’s usually because I think someone is being a twat. Do people who think only kind thoughts ever laugh because I’m thinking about it and most things I laugh at are not kind thoughts. I often think unkind thoughts and laugh to myself. Unless I’m among friends I try to keep my unkind thoughts to myself and don’t share with strangers. I’m happy to wait and email my friends when I get home.

I do consider myself a kind person, I think I think I am generally a very good person. I just know that through the course of a typical day there are going to be thoughts in my head that will not be kind, I will judge other people, I will berate other people in my mind, I will roll my eyes because somebody has violated something that I think should be a social norm.

Perhaps I’ll try to keep my thoughts more on the kind side, maybe for every unkind thought I find myself thinking I’ll try to balance it with something thoughtful and understanding.

Which is what I’ve been doing this week as I do my assignments for the photography course I’m taking. Trying to get the camera to do what I want it to do has been frustrating. With practice though I did manage to get my assignment done and my new camera and I are slowly getting to know each other.

Taking the course is certainly giving me a new appreciation for photographers who are able to get the camera to do what they want and get that amazing shot. Also kinda makes me miss the point and shoot a bit but the photos that I have gotten to work out have made it all worth it.

Fumble with the controls, swear at the camera, try again and after a few tries when the photo actually turns out the way you wanted it to, great sense of accomplishment!

Another class tomorrow and I’m looking forward to it. The frustration of learning I know will be worth it in the end and like the Lion above I need to remember to occasionally take a time out and just breathe.

It is, constantly going up and down. Every peak bringing another view of more hills and it is beautiful. The lush green with the red clay offers stunning views. I had expected Rwanda to be beautiful but it far exceeded my expectations.

There were children everywhere in Rwanda but I never heard screaming kids, kids having a temper tantrum, even a crying baby. Perhaps it’s because the younger babies are tied to their mother’s backs.

You see this all the time, the Mom is happily going about her day and the little one is just safely hanging out. Sleeping or looking around without a care in the world. Safely bundled into the blanket that is tied to the Mom. Little feet and hands sticking out, it totally amazed me how happy they appeared.

Then the older ones are curious, they wave and many love having their picture taken. They love to see their picture like this little guy.

After seeing his picture he seemed to look back at his sister with a see I told you I was handsome look.

There was one little guy in a red sweater with a big smile who came running up to our bus and threw his hands in the air while yelling “GIVE ME ALL YOUR MONEY!” Then stood with his hands out. Well might as well try the direct approach, he didn’t get any money and I missed the picture.

When I arrived in Tijuana for my Taco and Tequila tour I was greeted by a big smile from LUE. He is a shepherd – greyhound cross and has one of the sweetest temperaments I have ever seen in a dog. So well behaved and he followed me everywhere. Having lost my own dog last year seeing LUE was just what I needed along with the sun and seeing my good friend again. LUE also slept with me every night and I enjoyed the company.

You hear so many stories about Tijuana but where we were is so nice. It’s just a suburb with people living their lives in a beautiful location. Their place is right on the ocean and there is a pool area to lounge in over looking the ocean. I could sit out there with my buddy LUE for days (and I did). Just listening to the ocean talking and laughing with the neighbours and feeling so welcome. It’s amazing that I returned home. To go outside without eight layers on was such a welcome change.

It was the perfect break to debate the next step in my life, sometimes you need to step out of your everyday life to figure things out. While I don’t have all the details worked out the sun and fun in Tijuana certainly helped.

Just a photo of the water falling. It is one of my favourite photo’s from an amazing trip. The is just the fall part of Dettifoss, it kind of gives you an idea of the power of the fall. It is by volume the largest in Europe.

This is a photo of the top of Dettifoss just before it crashes over the edge.

It’s so beautiful and it goes from really calm to starting to churn, seeming to pick up speed before it turns into a big churning mass of water crashing down. Amazing and it was definitely one of the top highlights of my trip, in a trip that was full of highlights.

The mother of all the waterfalls we saw. By volume of water it is the largest in Europe and the sound of the crashing water is unbelievable.

It’s a formidable site and I’m not sure the photo’s do it justice for it’s size and strength. It is MASSIVE and really beautiful in a way that is different from the tall waterfalls and the pretty smaller ones. It’s beauty is in just the sheer volume and power of the water.

We stood and watched it for ages it’s very mesmerizing to watch and the sound is oddly calming.